


Research

by FrankiValerie



Series: After Omega [15]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Feels, Jaleb, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 18:56:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11110785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankiValerie/pseuds/FrankiValerie
Summary: #JALEBISLOVE"I always do the smart thing when someone fucks with me." - Jack, Mass Effect 2.





	Research

Caleb’s surgery lasted only 2 hours but to Jack it felt like forever. She paced. No way she could sit down. She’d cried and punched a wall, screamed at a nurse and finally slumped down against the wall opposite the door before Mordin came out.

“Jack. Surgery complete. Went better than expected. Patient needs rest. May take time to wake.”

She jumped up when she saw him and hung on his every word, waiting until she was sure he was finished before asking her questions. “He’s okay? You got the bullet out? Full recovery?”

Mordin smiled softly and her heart sank down from being lodged in her throat to rest back into it’s original space.

“Caleb will be fine. Simple surgery. Lesser staff could have handled.” His smile dropped, “Are you injured, Jack?”, he nodded to the patches of Caleb’s blood on her clothes, though she had now washed it off her hands.

She shook her head, feeling her tears well in her eyes again as she explained, “No... I wasn’t with him when he was shot. I should have been, but I wasn’t.”

He straightened his lab coat and cleared his throat, “You were there when he needed you most. If left unfound, would be dead. Saved his life.”

She felt an urge to reach out and hug Mordin, but her sore body wouldn’t allow her to move any more than necessary. “.. Can I go in and sit by him until he wakes up?”

Mordin smiled again and nodded, “Certainly, Jack. Welcome to stay as long as required.” He stepped toward the door and paused before turning and smiling back at her, “Glad you have found someone, Jack.”

He pushed the doors open for her, his staff left the room when she entered and she stood at the end of his bed, stunned.

She’d seen him beaten and bandaged before, of course. Caleb Ortez was had always been prone to injury, but it wasn’t because he was a bad fighter; on the contrary he was one of the best Jack had ever seen. Even without guns or his biotics he had speed, grace, strength and a killer right hook. He preferred the up close and personal combat, loved the crunch of bones against his fist.  It was one of many reasons Jack had grown so fond of him.  His injuries were usually simply due to the risks of close combat.  This time it was obvious he’d left his emotions cloud his judgement and walked right into a trap.

He was bruised and broken but less bloody, and she imagined the worse of his injuries would be under the many bandages wrapped around his torso.

She stared at him for a while. Studying every inch of him, unable to make her feet step closer so she could hold him. There was an oxygen mask over his face but it looked like he was otherwise breathing on his own. He was hooked up to a heart monitor and it sounded as though his heart was beating strong. She had no doubt Mordin’s work would be perfect… but her mind was stuck on ‘What if I'd been too late?’

She sobbed and more fell than stepped forward, catching herself on the bottom of the bed they’d moved him to. More tears stung her eyes and poured down her cheeks, “You fucking stupid fuck, Caleb.” She grabbed the bed sheets in her fists, squeezing them so she wouldn’t squeeze him, “Stubborn fucking jerk.” She hissed the scolding to herself, her voice wavering between rage, relief and exhaustion.

She knew why he’d done it. She knew him that well, at least; he didn’t want her getting hurt because of his past, he’d made that clear already.  She thought he understood that she wanted -- _needed_ to be there for him - and this was why.  She knew his determination, passion and fury would cloud his judgement. He needed her to be the level headed one, like he had been for her so many times before.

She stilled her sobbing and wiped her eyes. She moved around to his side, pulling over a chair for herself, resting on the bed beside him, reaching to lightly stroke her thumb across the back of his hand. She spoke softly, “Caleb… I know you had your reasons.  I know you thought this was best for me. But… If you had left me today, if I hadn’t been able to find to you...”  

She paused, her fists clenched so tight in her building rage that her nails cut into her palms.  Her voice shook under the weight of her fury, “That fucker is gonna fucking pay for this. He’s gonna suffer more than anyone has ever suffered. He’s not the type to care about friends, I can tell that much. But he cares enough about himself to be afraid. And he will be afraid. He’ll be fucking terrified. He’ll make mistakes. That’s when we get him. You’re gonna get him back for this, C. I’m gonna make sure of it.”

* * *

Caleb grunted as he stirred slowly.  He felt the pain in his chest and torso, reminding him vaguely of his injuries.  He clenched his jaw and slowly opened his eyes after feeling a pressure on his forearm.  Looking in the direction he saw Jack; sleeping, her head rested on his arm, her hand still in his, faced away from him. More of what had happened came back to him; vague memories pushing through the fog in his mind. He remembered her crying.  His blood on her hands.  He grunted again,

His stirring woke her sharply and she squeezed his hand, looking to his face, her sleepy eyes focusing on him, “... Hey.”

“Hey..” He held her gaze, studying her. She still looked tired. Her eyes were blood-shot, “Sleeping here now?” He tried on a small smirk, hoping she’d mirror it, but there were no hints of any smiles from her.

“How are you feeling?”

With a wince he settled back, “Like I got shot by a fucking wrecking ball. How's it look?”

“Like you should be fucking dead.” She said flatly, “And if hadn’t found you, you would be.”

“Guess you got there just in time then.” He was beyond grateful, and tried on a softer smile to show her that.

“So tell me what happened.” Her expression remained blank. There was a hint of anger in her eyes which he suspected was a deep rage at him that she was hiding very well.

He dropped his smile, “I found that fucker Reyes, killed his men, was about to kill him, but a sniper got the drop on me and Reyes hit me. Reckon he gave me a few cracked ribs. Split my face up good. Cowardly fuck waited til I was down to kick me.”

She took a moment to respond, cogs clearly clicking away behind thought filled eyes, “You see if he had any other guards?”

Caleb shook his head “Just the sniper. I got the others.”

“And he got you… from behind? Reyes was facing you?” She was searching his eyes now, as if looking for a lie, almost daring him to lie to her.  

He frowned, “Reckon he must have been behind Reyes, yeah. Shot me over his shoulder.”

He knew what she’d be thinking and attempted to rise, but his wound was too fresh and the pain too new; he grunted, “Fuck. How long I gotta be in this bed?”

Jack stood and pushed him gently back down, repositioning the pillow under his head and straightening the thin blanket over his legs and torso, “Long as doc says so. Or longer, depending on when I get back.”

He eyed her, “Get back? Where are you going? What are you gonna do?” 

She set her jaw, not looking back to him, “...The smart thing.” 

He grunted, looking up at her, reaching for her hand as she moved from his side “Jack… Stay. I'm already fucking bored. Being in bed is shit if you ain't with a gorgeous woman.”

Jack still showed no sign of any amusement, “Play with a fucking nurse if you want. I'll be back with food.” She stretched her neck to each side as she left, fists clenched.

He grumbled in disapproval, “...Ain't interested in a fucking nurse.” 

* * *

With Mordin’s confused but generous permission, Jack rummaged around in the clinic’s maintenance storage – she found scrub uniforms, rubber gloves, caps, face masks, then further in found cleaning fluid and a bucket with a couple brushes. She changed into the scrubs, put on the cap, gloves and face mask filled the bucket half with water and headed back to the alley where she’d found Caleb.

His blood was still there. She knew it would be. Omega wasn’t exactly known for its high standards of street hygiene. People cared even less about back alleys. Likely they’d be stained all over again next week – if it even took that long.

She mixed the cleaning fluid with the water, as the instructions said, and stirred it briefly before pouring a little over the blood and beginning to scrub with a rough-bristle brush. The blood, though bone dry, lifted easily, making the suds turn pink.

“Yeah, I’ll check it out.” Jack’s ears focused on the male voice, instincts telling her who it was without the need to look up and make an assessment. She didn’t physically react.  The voice grew louder – he was moving closer.

“Meet you at there in an hour.”  He now stepped in front of her, leaning against the wall, “You know what happened here,

Jack exhaled and kept cleaning, her head down and her voice flat when she answered, “Guy got shot. Bled out.”

“Gonna need more than that, sweetheart,” he continued, “Boss needs information is all. I’m Garrett Miles. What’s your name?”

She exhaled again and rested back on her feet, looking up at him and quickly taking note of his face – deep set dark blue eyes, a missing tooth near the back on the left, scar on his chin, acne scarring on his right cheek, a tattoo on his neck and a shit eating grin stretching thin lips into slim lines.

“Bethany.” She answered, maintaining her apathetic tone. A name she got from a ID badge hung up in the clinic reception. The IDs had no photos on them, thankfully. She could have picked any.

“A pleasure to meet you. Who are you cleaning up for?”

“I work at the clinic around the corner, I’m a medical intern.” The lie was easy and rolled off her tongue.

He chuckled – a cocky ‘guffaw’ that made her skin itch.

“So you get the cleaning up after a murder job, huh? That’s gotta suck.” He made a point of looking around, not just at the scene but at her too. He circled her like a vulture. She glanced at him again and saw pride in his sick smile as he took in the amount of Caleb’s blood she was cleaning up. It took all of her strength not to tear him apart right then, and to keep up this act. She knew he was the shooter. She felt it in her bones and now had no doubts. Likely his boss was Reyes, who he’d be meeting in an hour. She continued the cleaning to keep her hands from wrapping around his neck.

“Lot of blood here. Guy must have been a mess. Why’s the clinic cleaning up?” He paused, now focusing his eyes on her, frozen in his pacing, “Unless he lived?”

She exhaled a third time and he knelt beside her and reached to grab her chin, lifting her face to look in her eyes. She saw his irritation; a flicker of fear behind a shadow of anger, “Did he live?”

She furrowed her brow, “Way to make it obvious that you shot the guy. Miles was it?”  

Miles frowned, that fear in his eyes growing.  She enjoyed it a moment longer then resumed her act, pulling her chin from his hand, “He was alive when I found him but died before we got him to the clinic. Your boss can relax.”  

“Good.” He stepped back and turned to leave, “Have a good evening.” 

Jack watched him take a few steps then spoke up while getting back to brushing the soapy ground, “Good looking guy like that… you not worried he’s got people looking for his killers?”  

Miles stopped in his tracks, hesitating a small, tense moment then huffed a small laugh and called back over his shoulder, “He was a dog that had to be put down. Sick and rabid. Galaxy is a better place without him.” He paused another moment, waiting for any further retort from her.  But she said nothing and let him go.

She had her information - she’d hacked into his OT and set up a remote access while he’d been close to her.  She looked over it now and found a message from Reyes - a time, 1 hour from now, and the name of a bar not too far from the clinic.  She could find them there.


End file.
